Shotgun Included
by someone-lost
Summary: Afer reading one too many LW/Charon fics, this was born. The Lone Wanderer will do almost anything to get her hands on the ghoul Charon, much to the amusement of Lucas Simms. One-shot.


Disclaimer: I do not in anyway own Fallout 3. Which sucks.

A young girl with short, choppy brown hair breezed into Megaton with as much grace as a tornado. For a minute, Lucas Simms, self appointed sheriff and mayor, wondered if the girl's home was on fire. When she practically bowled him over, startling bright green eyes fixated on her house, he experienced a dumbstruck moment of how true his words might be. Maybe he should also add psychic to his already long list of talents? He followed her, just to make sure.

Once he reached her house he held up a hand to knock, stopped at the sound of a crash, and instead just burst through the unlocked door. Hand on gun, he accessed the situation with experienced eyes and for the second time in five minutes his eyes widened in shock. A large pile of anything and everything was in the middle of the relatively large living room: an arsenal of weapons, boxes of ammo, pieces of clothing and even kitchen ware poked out from the heap. A plastic ball managed to escape and rolled to a stop in front of Simms.

"Kid?" he called out hesitantly and when he received no answer he took it upon himself to look around. He was climbing the stairs, rifle in hand, when a loud curse came from one of the rooms. An object went whizzing by his head and landed with an ominous crack on the pile downstairs. Peeking into what seemed to be the bedroom, Lucas found the kid on all fours and reaching beneath a relatively clean bed for something. "Looking for something?"

The Lone Wanderer let out a startled yelp and banged her head against the metal frame. "Goddamnit," she swore and rubbed at the back of her head. "Simms what're you doing here?"

"Saw you whirl in here like your house was on fire. Thought I'd make sure that wasn't the case." He offered her a crooked grin and leaned against the door frame. "Glad to see I was wrong, but what the hell are you doin'?" The girl's pale cheeks flamed red and she avoided his gaze.

"Nothing much, just some spring cleaning." She turned her face towards him then, all embarrassment gone, and gave him a once over. "Say, you wouldn't by any chance want to buy anything, would you?" Simms raised an eyebrow and looked over his shoulder at her pile of crap.

"Honey, I got all I need right here." He patted his rifle. "Looking to make a quick buck?"

"Yeah, I found something that I desperately need, but I don't have enough caps to get it."

"So you're going to sell all of this?" She nodded her head, eyes glittering with determination.

"I _need_ it!" The sheriff let out a heartfelt laugh and slapped his thigh.

"Girl, you are the definition of determination! You know it's going to take all day to haul all this stuff around town, right?"

"Well…"  
"Even that fancy Pip-Boy of yours can't handle all this." She nodded, eyes drifting over her now empty room and hands idly rubbing the bottle cap she had unearthed beneath her bed.

"Yeah."

Simms gave a soft smile to the girl before turning his back and swaggering down the stairs. He heard her scramble to her feet and jump from the second floor to land on the first with a 'thump'. The mayor took one last look back, amused to see her already filling her Pip-Boy to the maximum weight, and headed out.

"Be sure to come a show me what it is you so _desperately _need when ya get it." He called and shut the door. The thought of helping her came and passed in an instant; he had enough things to worry about at the moment. Eyeing a leaking water pipe he let out a sigh and headed toward the Water Processing Plant.

Lucas Simms had been right. It had taken one whole day and the better part of the next before the Lone Wanderer had sold every last item. As a result, Moira was happier than ever with her pile of what most people considered 'seriously misunderstood devices' and Moriarty had enough alcohol to run three bars. Wolfgang's reaction was priceless; the caravan owner had almost had a heart attack at the selection of 'treasures' he could choose from. In the end, though, the Lone Wanderer was just a few caps shy of her goal amount. However, she had nothing else left to sell.

"What else…" she muttered to herself. She had a few Stimpacks left, but she needed those for her journey back across the Wasteland; same with her armor and remaining weapons. Her gaze traveled over the atomic bomb sitting at the center of the town. Too bad she had already de-activated the thing; she could've used the caps. _Too bad I did the job for free…_ Well, she had gotten a house out of the deal along with citizen ship. Wadsworth, too, even though he wasn't good for much but a hair cut and some smile worthy jokes every. _Wait a minute! _Wadsworth!

The young girl made another wild trip back to her house, not really caring about the odd looks she got from the locals. _They already think I'm the 'Hero of the Wastes'…_ When she arrived at her home Wadsworth welcomed her home.

"Good day, Madam!" He greeted in a slightly accented voice. "Is there anything I can do for you?"

"I would like some water, Wadsworth."

"Certainly, Madam! Here you are!" She repeated the same commands over and over until she had run the poor machine dry.

"I'm sorry, Madam," he droned. "But it seems my precipitation levels have run perilously low. I'll need time before I-" The 'Hero of the Wastes' left before he could finish, purified water safely in her Pip-Boy.

Lucas Simms stood at the gates of Megaton with one hand on his rifle and the other holding a cigarette. He took a slow drag, savoring the flavor of pure tobacco and last of the carton the kid had given him some time ago. He had been pleasantly surprised at the present, the girl saying that she had come across it as she was leaving her house.

"Thought you woulda sold it for the caps," he had commented. She had shaken her head, an alluring sparkle in her eyes.

"I'm sure I'll run across some caps in the desert. Next time I come back, I'll show you what I wanted to get!" That was two weeks ago and she had yet to come back. No matter, he had become used to not seeing her for months at a time so a couple of weeks was almost nothing in comparison. Still, he was curious as to what had gotten her so worked up. _Must have something to do with her old man,_ he mused. _Last time she looked that damn determined was when she managed to get Moriarty to spill the proverbial beans about her dad._

His thoughts were broken as the grating sound of the gates opening caught his attention. The cigarette that had been dangling from his lips fell and rolled away. He rubbed a dirty hand across his face, over his eyes, and wondered if the heat had finally gotten to him.

"Simms!" Nope. He watched the Lone Wanderer practically skip towards him, a breath taking smile on her face and large –was it a man?- following obediently behind her. In an uncharacteristic show of emotion, the young girl tackled the older man in a hug that left him gasping for air.

"Hey kid, how's it going?" he wheezed, still staring at the ghoul behind her.

"Great! I want you to meet someone! His name is Charon." She motioned towards the ghoul standing behind her with joy. The sheriff gave a stiff nod which Charon acknowledged with a simple inclination of the head.

"Is he what you wanted to buy?"

"Yup! I freed him from Ahzrukhal in the Underworld."

"Under- You mean, you went down to 'Ghoul City' for him?" She nodded like it was completely logical for a nineteen year old girl armed with nothing but a handgun and assault rifle to travel across the wastes and _back_ with a ghoul.

"He even comes with his own shotgun!"

Author's Note: Okay, this was born from reading way too many LW/Charon romantic fics. I had just finished a particularly good one when I though, well damn, I'm going to go find his sweet ass. Which I did eventually. What I didn't expect, though, was his freaking price tag which I guess wouldn't be too bad if I actually had something close to the amount Ahzrukhal wanted. So, I wandered back to my house in Megaton and sold everything (and I mean EVERYTHIN) except for my Stimpacks and a couple of guns/ammo. Ya know, the bare essentials. And even then I had to find more crap in the desert and sell that too. In the end, though, I just ended up killing Greta and keeping the caps. ^-^


End file.
